Safety seats for automobiles and aircraft

ABSTRACT

A vehicle seat, especially for automobiles or aircraft, is provided which has a seat frame possessing a configuration akin to the human spine and hip formation. At the rear of the seat base there is a hip frame having lateral wings and providing the main attachment point of the seat in the vehicle. Forward and upward from this hip frame there extend a base spine and a back spine respectively, the base spine carrying integral therewith a seat pan supporting a seat cushion while the back spine, which widens toward the top, supports a fixed shoulder cushion, an adjustable lumbar cushion, and, if desired an adjustable head rest. The seat frame structure is fabricated in pressed sheet steel, the hip frame being a box-type fabrication built up from two half-pressings one integral with the back spine and the other with the base spine. The ends of the hip frame wings provide anchorage points for the straps of a safety harness. A harness retraction reel, which may be an inertia reel, is mounted on the back spine to receive a diagonal or breast strap of the harness passing over the seat occupant&#39;&#39;s shoulder and down into the seat back.

United States Patent Dove [4 1 1 Jul 4, 1972 [54] SAFETY SEATS FORAUTOMOBILES 3,137,524 6/1964 Chancellor ..297/284 AND AIRCRAFT 3,471,19710/1969 Ely ..297/216 X [72] Inventor: Ernest Baker Dove, Basildon,England primary Examine, pau| R Gilliam [-73] Assign; Teleflex productsLimited, Basfldoh Essex, Attorney-John R. Bronaugh, Floyd S1. Levisonand Richard England A. Speer 22 Filed: on. 31, 1969 [57] ABSTRACT PP872,899 A vehicle seat, especially for automobiles or aircraft, isprovided which has a seat frame possessing a configuration akin to thehuman spine and hip formation. At the rear of the seat [30] FomgnApphcamn Prmmy Dam base there is a hip frame having lateral wings andproviding Oct. 31, 1968 Great Britain 51,556/68 the main attachmentpoint of the seat in the vehicle. Forward and upward from this hip framethere extend a base spine and 52 U.S. c1 ..297/284, 297/216, 297/458 8hack Spine respectively. the base Spine carrying integral 51 Int. Cl...A47c 3/00, B60r 21/10 therewith a Seat P Supporting a Seat cushionwhile the back [58] Field of Search ..A47c/7 02; 297/284, 216,458,Spine, which Widens toward the r pp a fixed Shoulder 297/460 cushion, anadjustable lumbar cushion, and, if desired an adjustable head rest. Theseat frame structure is fabricated in 56 R f n Cited pressed sheetsteel, the hip frame being a box-type fabrication built up from twohalf-pressings one integral with the back UNITED STATES PATENTS spineand the other with the base spine. The ends of the hip frame wingsprovide anchorage points for the straps of a safety 321,402 10/1887w1]]13.1'l'lS0l'l....1...i ..297/460 X hamcSs A harness retraction reel,which y be an inertia 5355 1/ ,ltchcock et "297/460 x reel, is mountedon the back spine to receive a diagonal or 1,527,754 2/1925 Simon..297/284 UX breast Strap of the harness passing over the Seat occupanps2,485,l l 1 10/1949 Robmsnm ..297/284 X Shoulder d down into the Seatback 2,831,533 4/1958 Pasquarellr. ..297/284 X 3,124,389 3/ l 964 Mikan..297/458 UX 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEnJuL 41972 3, 674,307

sum a, as 4 074 m WM 35 E k fi SAFETY SEATS FOR AUTOMOBILES AND AIRCRAFTstalled, the safety belt or harness for the seat occupant can beanchored tothe seat itself rather than to the main body structure of thevehicle. It is an object of the invention to provide a seat of thiskind.

According to the present invention, the seat frame is designed so thatthe seatroccupant restraining forces are taken by a structure ofcross-form configuration somewhat akin to the human spine and hipformation.

In the pre'ferredform, the structure comprises a hip frame with lateralwing portions situated at the region where the base and the back oftheseat meet and incorporating the main anchorage points for the seat.And from this hip frame there extend upward andforward, respectively, acentral back spine and a substantially horizontal basespine. On thisstructure are fitted seat and back cushions for the occupant andpreferably also an adjustablehead rest.

The design is proposedbearing in mind the following:

a. That seat loads, normally high in the seat pan and low in the seatback, can be suddenly reversed when subjected to crash conditions. Theconventional harness lap and diagonal" restraint system, by virtue ofits three point construction, provides anchorage of the imposed loads ina plane behind the wearer and never on the seat pan.

b. That the loads set up in the human frame byeveryday efforts areborne, ultimately, by the spine. I

The invention provides a seat construction compatible with theseconsiderations.

While the above discussion is directed to automobile seats, it will beunderstood that to a large extent similar considerations hold in thecase of aircraft seats and the invention is also automobile seats, thepreferred material of construction of the seat frame is pressed steel,but for aircrew seats filament-reinforced synthetic resin materials,e.g. glass materials, are preferable.

One construction of vehicle safety seat in accordance with the inventionis illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the seat frame,

FIG. 2 is a side elevation,

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation,

FIG. 4 is a plan,

FIG. 5 is a view in section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 6 is a view in section on the line 6--6 of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 shows an arrangement for connecting a harness strap to the seat.

The frame of the seat shown in the drawings is pressed in sheet steeland has as its main structuralportions a hip frame 1 1 with lateralwings 12, a back spine 13 upstanding centrally from the hip frame, and ahorizontalseat spine 14 extending forward centrally from the hip frame.Integral with the seat spine 14 is a seat tray or pan 15 to receive theseat cushions 16, which is a separate item for ease of manufacture andfitting. The pan I5 is pressedwith lateral ribs 17, extending from thespine 14, to stiffen it.

It will be seen that the hip frame 11 is a strong box-type structuremade up by mating two half-pressings 11A, 118, the one joined to theback spine 13 and the other to the seatspine 14, The hip frame iscomparatively deep, more particularly at or carbon fiber its centralregion 19, in the plane of juncture 18 of the two half-pressings, whichplane contains the horizontal axis of the hip frame (the hip frame axisthat lies at right angles to the fore-and-aft vertical center plane ofthe seat) and slopes steeply down in the rearward direction. The twospines 13, 14 deepen progressively in section as they approach the hipframe, encountering it in two planes 21, 22 parallel to the plane 18,the terminal depth of each spine in the plane 21 or 22, as the case maybe, being substantially the same as the depth in that plane of thecentral region of the hip frame.

The central region 19 of the hip frame 11 extends somewhat below thewings 12, as at 23, and provision is made here for the main attachmentof the seat to supporting vehicle structure, the horizontal axis 25 ofthe attachment points 24 lying in the plane 18. To prevent forwardfolding of the seat about the axis 25 a compression strut is providedunder the seat spine 14 as indicated at 26.

The back spine 13 widens at its top region 27 to give adequate supportto the seat occupants shoulders. It carries a fixed shoulder cushion 28,a separate adjustable lumber cushion 29 and an adjustable head rest 30,this arrangement giving excellent back support and ventilation.

The seat can be equipped with safety belt or harness gear of theretracting type, either lap-and-diagonal or a full harness. Shoulderwebbing locations, in relation to the seat back, are shown at 31, thiswebbing running down within the back spine 13 at the rear to aretraction reel 32 secured about half-way up the back spine.

In the case of a lap-and-diagonal harness the two ends of the lap strap,and the lower end of the diagonal strap, are attached to the outer endsof the hip frame 11. FIG. 7 shows how this can be accomplished, theharness strap 33 being looped through an anchorage plate 34 which isheld in place by an anchorage bolt 35 secured in an end-piece 36 fittedon to the end of the hip frame 11. Preferably, the lower end attachmentfor the diagonal strap is on the outside of the seat, that is to say thediagonal strap extends upward and inward away from the side of thevehicle, instead of out toward the side in the conventional manner. I

Although seat adjustment means are not illustrated, it is readilypossible for such a seat construction to be adapted to afford any of theusual vehicle seat movements, e.g. fore-andaft travel, rake. adjustment,recline and lift-up; and it can also be adapted for height adjustmentand swivel if used as an aircrew seat.

It will further be understood that the drawings illustrate only one ofmany possible ways of fabricating a seat in accordance with theprinciples of the invention. Furthermore, the same general designtechnique can be employed for aircraft seats, in which case the materialof construction may advantageously be, as previously indicated, a glassor carbon fiber reinforced synthetic resin material instead of steel.

What I claim is:

1. A vehicle seat frame comprising a hip frame having lateral wings, aback spine upstanding centrally from said hip frame, a horizontal seatspine extending forward centrally from said hip frame, a seat trayintegral with said seat spine, said seat tray having stiffening ribs,said back spine and said seat spine being fixedly joined to said hipframe, said back spine and said seat spine having progressivelyincreasing cross sectional areas in the region of their juncture withsaid hip frame, the terminal width of the cross section area of each ofsaid back and seat spines being substantially equal to the width of saidhip frame.

2. A vehicle seat frame in accordance with claim 1 wherein the centralregion of said hip frame extends below said lateral wings, said hipframe being provided with attaching means for attaching said vehicleframe to a support structure.

3. A vehicle seat frame in accordance with claim 2 wherein a compressionstrut is provided under said seat spine.

4. A vehicle seat frame in accordance with claim 3 wherein said backspine widens at its top region giving support to the shoulders of theoccupant of the seat, said back spine having a justably attached to saidback spine above said fixed shoulder cushion and a seat cushion fixedlyattached to said seat spine.

1. A vehicle seat frame comprising a hip frame having lateral wings, aback spine upstanding centrally from said hip frame, a horizontal seatspine extending forward centrally from said hip frame, a seat trayintegral with said seat spine, said seat tray having stiffening ribs,said back spine and said seat spine being fixedly joined to said hipframe, said back spine and said seat spine having progressivelyincreasing cross sectional areas in the region of their juncture withsaid hip frame, the terminal width of the cross section area of each ofsaid back and seat spines being substantially equal to the width of saidhip frame.
 2. A vehicle seat frame in accordance with claim 1 whereinthe central region of said hip frame extends below said lateral wings,said hip frame being provided with attaching means for attaching saidvehicle frame to a support structure.
 3. A vehicle seat frame inaccordance with claim 2 wherein a compression strut is provided undersaid seat spine.
 4. A vehicle seat frame in accordance with claim 3wherein said back spine widens at its top region giving support to theshoulders of the occupant of the seat, said back spine having a fixedshoulder cushion attached thereto and a separate adjustable lumbarcushion adjustably attached to said back spine below said fixed shouldercushion, an adjustable head rest adjustably attached to said back spineabove said fixed shoulder cushion and a seat cushion fixedly attached tosaid seat spine.